Watching Movies To Write Better Novels

Mystery List, Expanded and Revised and Now Updated

Update:
I looked up availability which changed things some since if it’s not streaming, it’s too hard for everybody to get (no Jonathan Creek, which is a crime). See annotated list below.

Okay, here’s the latest version of the mystery list with your suggestions. THIS MUST BE CUT. Or we’re going to have another nine-month series. And it got longer because Lani and Alastair pointed out that we didn’t have Supernatural Mysteries on there, and I’m a sucker for Supernatural Mysteries. The numbers in parentheses are the maximum number of titles for that subgenre. The ones in the caps are the ones that are staying no matter what. Because I said so. Now eat your peas.

and two others:
1954 Rear Window (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
1994 The Client (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
2006 Déjà Vu (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
Witness for the Prosecution (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
Presumed Innocent (streaming on Amazon Prime (free) and Netflix, rental on Netflix)
The Prestige (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
Gosford Park (streaming on Amazon and Netflix, rental on Netflix)
Inside Man (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
The Negotiator (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
Bunny Lake is Missing (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
Gone Baby Gone (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
1950 DOA (streaming on Amazon)
Deathtrap (streaming on Amazon free)
The Last of Sheila (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
Twelve Angry Men (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
The General’s Daughter (streaming on Amazon but only to buy for $9.99, rental on Netflix)
Anatomy of a Murder (streaming on Amazon but only to buy for $9.99, rental on Netflix)
No Way Out (streaming on Amazon)
Klute (streaming on Amazon free, rental on Netflix)

Unless somebody argues passionately to replace one with one of these:1947 Out of the Past (rental on Netflix)
1958 Vertigo (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)1995 Devil in a Blue Dress (rental on Netflix)
1981 Body Heat (streaming Amazon Prime (free) and Netflix, rental on Netflix)

February: Comic Mystery Plots (5)
1985 CLUE (streaming on Amazon but you have to buy it for $7.49, rental on Netflix)1988 WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? (rental on Netflix)
2007 HOT FUZZ (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
And three others:
1998 The Big Lebowski (streaming on Amazon and Netflix, rental on Netflix)
1964 A Shot in the Dark (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
1985 Fletch (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
Psych (streaming on Amazon and Netflix, rental on Netflix)Keen Eddie (rental on Netflix)
High Anxiety (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)

March: Supernatural Mystery Plots (4)
THE FRIGHTENERS (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
SLEEPY HOLLOW (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
TV: SUPERNATURAL (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
And one other
X-Files (streaming on Amazon and Netflix, rental on Netflix)
Ghost (streaming on Amazon, rental on Netflix)
What Lies Beneath (streaming on Amazon but only to buy for $9.99)

Please keep in mind that the movie has to be something that has a strong enough structure that we can learn to plot mysteries from it. The fact that it’s a good movie is not enough. We have a goal here, let’s keep our eyes on the prize.

Now fight it out amongst yourselves. The decisions of the judges (me, Lani, Alastair) are final. No salemen will call. DON’T NOMINATE ANY MORE MOVIES. Because the list is too long already. Unless they’re Supernatural Mysteries because we just sprang that one on you. Thank you.

11 thoughts on “Mystery List, Expanded and Revised and Now Updated”

September: Classic Mysteries (6)
Witness for the Prosecution
The Fugitive
Either DOA or Murder on the Orient Express (I think Witness for the Prosecution is better as far as Christie stories, but Orient Express is famous for a reason. DOA is worth examining for the premise alone, and it’s a great example of solving a mystery with a time limit).

October/November: Noir Mysteries (7)
The Big Sleep (Bogart/Bacall) – have to have Chandler when doing noir. I love Out of the Past, and it’s archetypal noir, but looking at your goal here, I don’t think it fits (more about doomed love and betrayal than solving a mystery). I haven’t seen Body Heat, but from what I understand, it’s more about the plotting and committing of a crime than solving it. If not The Big Sleep: I think Vertigo would work for what you want. Haven’t seen Chinatown or Devil in a Blue Dress, but they also look like they would work.

December/January: Romantic Mysteries (7)
Dead Again
Moonlighting (with some reservation, I’ve seen great episodes and bad ones)
To Catch a Thief
Compromising Positions (haven’t seen it but it looks interesting)
Foul Play (love it, but pretty sure the romance isn’t actually that strong)

February: Comedy Mysteries (4)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Fletch (fairly sure Chevy Chase will again suck a lot of the enjoyment out of it, at least for me, but I remember it well enough to say the plot is a strong mystery, so I think it’s worth it to risk his obnoxiousness)

I remember The Prestige was a pretty interesting movie. SOOOO happy to see Hot Fuzz in bold! Also, please please do Memento, because it’s such a clever, terrifying movie and I would love to hear your breakdown of it.

Classic mysteries: I would go for D.O.A. as Katie said the premise is really good. I would like to see the orginal (as I have never seen it) rather than the Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan one. I would also vote for Gosford Park great film and goes with the goal of finding out how mystery works (at least for me).

Noir: Chinatown. The noir is sewn in that film and when I first saw it I had no idea about the connections in it.

Comedy: The Big Lebowski I love the way it is off centre.

And the non traditional: The Usual Suspects, the structure is well plotted and great twists and turns. I would also vote for Wild Things (has a lot that is a bit annoying, but overall the thing that I most learned from watching it is surprising the viewer and would suit your goal).

Classic Mystery:
Rear Window – even though I know what’s going to happen I still get tied up in knots – I want to know how they got that kind of tension.

And I’m going to say Gosford Park for my next pick, with Presumed Innocent for a very, very close third.

Romantic Mystery
To Catch a Thief

Comic
Fletch
(I’m so excited to see Hot Fuzz and Clue in bold – woo hoo!)
High Anxiety – I’ve never seen this but it sounds good

Non-traditional
And Then There Were None – I’ve seen the ’45 and ’65 versions and have read the book – this story scares the crap out of me – I’m kind of a baby that way
Columbo – I’ve seen a lot of these and they can be slow but I still like them
Fargo – I remember thinking it was good but it was a long time ago

Romantic: Only 3 choices left, and I’m good with all of them, especially Dead Again.

Comedy: Fletch, Psych and A Shot in the Dark (don’t think I’ve seen this all the way through, and Clouseau irritates me no end but but Peter Sellers is great, and those movies are obviously successful examples of comic mysteries)

Since Sherlock is in ALL CAPS I think I can just stop and hit ‘submit’ LOL

but I’ll help with the voting anyway:

Classics:
Gosford Park
Twelve Angry Men

Non-Traditional:
And Then There Were None
Rashomen
The Usual Suspects
Fargo

The others I don’t know enough about to vote intelligently. I think these would give a good solid look at mysteries and offer a good look at structure. It is sad to leave beloved movies behind. Even sadder to leave eye candy behind:)

For a supernatural mystery plot, you might consider Stir of Echoes, an underrated film starring Kevin Bacon as a man who starts seeing a girl’s ghost, The Dead Zone (the movie and/or the series) based on a Stephen King book (the series had more mystery than the film, which was more suspense), Kolchak the Night Stalker (oldie, but goodie) and The Gift, where Cate Blanchett stars as a psychic who’s asked to help find a girl who has disappeared.